Urban growth management in Jeddah

The towns and cities of Saudi Arabia have been subjected to sustained growth pressures since the transformation of the country's economy following the discovery of oil in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom. The rapid growth which has been experienced has created major problems for the central and local government agencies responsible for planning and managing urban growth. The experience of Jeddah, one of the major cities in Saudi Arabia, is described and the problems of planning and managing its growth are analysed. Weaknesses relating to the structure of the planning system are identified, as are major difficulties in relation to the quality and quantity of professional staff. Recent attempts to improve the operation of the planning system are described and evaluated.     

Demonstrating Floodplain Uncertainty Using Flood Probability Maps1

Abstract: The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood maps depict the 100‐year recurrence interval floodplain boundary as a single line. However, because of natural variability and model uncertainty, no floodplain extents can be accurately defined by a single line. This article presents a new approach to floodplain mapping that takes advantage of accepted methodologies in hydrologic and hydraulic analysis while including the effects of uncertainty. In this approach, the extents of computed floodplain boundaries are defined as a continuous map of flood probabilities, rather than as a single line. Engineers and planners can use these flood probability maps for viewing the uncertainty of a floodplain boundary at any recurrence interval. Such a flood probability map is a useful tool for visualizing the uncertainty of a floodplain boundary and represents greater honesty in engineering technologies that are used for flood mapping. While institutional barriers may prevent adoption of such definitions for use in graduated flood insurance rates (as most other insurance industries use to account for relative risks), the methods open the door technically to such a reality.     

高黏度污泥螺带螺杆搅拌混合特性的数值模拟

污泥处理过程通常需要加入添加剂,而高黏度污泥流动性差,搅拌混合是一个难点。选用螺带螺杆搅拌器加添加剂搅拌高黏度污泥,用Solid Works软件几何建模后,将模型导入Gambit划分网格,结合Fluent软件选用多重参考系法(MRF)分别对双螺带螺杆搅拌器与单螺带螺杆搅拌器下的污泥与添加剂混合过程进行了模拟,对比了两种搅拌桨的混合时间、体积分数流场分布及混合效率,分析了不同加料区域的影响,并将搅拌功率模拟与试验结果进行了对比。结果表明:螺带螺杆搅拌器适用于高黏度污泥的搅拌且双螺带螺杆搅拌器混合时间更短,体积分数流场更快趋于稳定且混合效率更高;最佳加料区域为搅拌槽的中部。     

National estimates of outdoor air toxics concentrations

The Clean Air Act identifies 189 hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), or "air toxics," associated with a wide range of adverse human health effects. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has conducted a modeling study with the Assessment System for Population Exposure Nationwide (ASPEN) to gain a greater understanding of the spatial distribution of concentrations of these HAPs resulting from contributions of multiple emission sources. The study estimates year 1990 long-term outdoor concentrations of 148 air toxics for each census tract in the continental United States, utilizing a Gaussian air dispersion modeling approach. Ratios of median national modeled concentrations to estimated emissions indicate that emission totals without consideration of emission source type can be a misleading indicator of air quality. The results also indicate priorities for improvements in modeling methodology and emissions identification. Model performance evaluation suggests a tendency for underprediction of observed concentrations, which is likely due, at least in part, to a number of limitations of the Gaussian modeling formulation. Emissions estimates for HAPs have a high degree of uncertainty and contribute to discrepancies between modeled and monitored concentration estimates. The model's ranking of concentrations among monitoring sites is reasonably good for most of the gaseous HAPs evaluated, with ranking accuracy ranging from 66 to 100%.     

新疆巴音布鲁克草原不同退化程度对土壤特性影响

以高寒草原巴音布鲁克草原为研究对象,通过对不同类型草场的草地利用方式、土壤退化程度和植被类型差异的调查,分析不同类型草场退化程度对土壤理化特性的影响,揭示植被和地表特征及草地利用方式对土壤肥力的影响。结果表明:高寒沼泽草场、高寒草原草场的草地利用方式合理,草地未退化,土壤养分含量高,植被状态良好,高寒草甸草场随放牧压力增大,生境退化程度加重,土壤退化程度加大,表现为土壤容重增大,含水率减少,土壤全磷和有机质浓度减少,植被盖度降低;不同类型草场退化程度与土壤容重、pH和水溶性盐浓度呈显著正相关,与含水率、全磷浓度、有机质浓度和植被盖度呈极显著负相关,与植被盖度相关系数高达-0.907,草场退化过程中土壤肥力因子与植被状态呈极显著正相关。     

Decomposition of hexachlorobenzene over Al2O3 supported metal oxide catalysts

Decomposition of hexachlorobenzene(HCB)was investigated over several metal oxides(i.e.,MgO,CaO,BaO,La2O3,CeO2,MnO2, Fe2O3,and Co3O4)supported on Al2O3,which was achieved in closed system at a temperature of 300°C.Catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation with different metal oxides loading and impregnating solvents.The decomposition effciency of different catalysts for this reaction depends on the nature of the metal oxide used,and Al2O3 supported La2O3 was found to be the most active one.Pe...     

Geographic variation in resource dominance-discovery in Brazilian ant communities

A predictive framework for the ecology of species invasions requires that we learn what limits successful invaders in their native range. The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) is invasive in the United States, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, and China. Solenopsis invicta appears to be a superior competitor in its introduced range, where it can cause the local extirpation of native species, but little is known about its competitive ability in its native range in South America. Here we examine the competitive ability of S. invicta for food resources in three widely separated Brazilian ant communities. Each of these communities contains 20-40 ant species, 8-10 of which were common and frequently interacted with S. invicta. S. invicta at all three sites was attacked by several species-specific phorid parasitoids, and at one site, two other species were attacked by their own specialized parasitoids. We examined interactions in these local communities for evidence that trade-offs among ant species between resource dominance and resource discovery, and between resource dominance and parasitoid vulnerability facilitate local coexistence. The trade-off between resource dominance and resource discovery was strong and significant only at Santa Genebra, where parasitoids had no effect on the outcome of confrontations at resources. At Bonito, parasitoids significantly reduced the ability of S. invicta, which was the top-ranked behavioral dominant, from defending and usurping food resources from subordinate species. In the Pantanal, S. invicta ranked behind three other ant species in a linear hierarchy of behavioral dominance, and lost the majority of its interactions with a fourth more subordinate species, Paratrechina fulva, another invasive species. Parasitoids of S. invicta were uncommon in the Pantanal, and did not affect its low position in the hierarchy relative to the other two sites. Parasitoids, however, did affect the ability of Linepithema angulatum, the top-ranked behavioral dominant in this community, from defending and usurping resources from behavioral subordinates. These results indicate that both interspecific competition and trait-mediated indirect effects of phorid parasitoids affect the ecological success of the red imported fire ant in its native range, but that the relative importance of these factors varies geographically.     

基于社区参与的乡村旅游研究——以江西婺源县为例

对乡村旅游的概念进行了界定,分析指出社区参与是乡村旅游可持续发展的必然选择,认为利益相关者的利益分配机制理论研究不足是社区参与乡村旅游的制约瓶颈.以江西省婺源县为例,剖析了婺源县在乡村旅游发展过程中的成功之处与存在的问题,并对婺源县乡村旅游可持续发展给出了几点战略性思考.研究的意义在于,能给今后学界对社区参与乡村旅游的理论和实践研究进行导向,以期研究取得突破性的进展.     

A Modeling System to Assess Land Cover Land Use Change Effects on SAV Habitat in the Mobile Bay Estuary

Estuarine ecosystems are largely influenced by watersheds directly connected to them. In the Mobile Bay, Alabama watersheds we examined the effect of land cover and land use (LCLU) changes on discharge rate, water properties, and submerged aquatic vegetation, including freshwater macrophytes and seagrasses, throughout the estuary. LCLU scenarios from 1948, 1992, 2001, and 2030 were used to influence watershed and hydrodynamic models and evaluate the impact of LCLU change on shallow aquatic ecosystems. Overall, our modeling results found that LCLU changes increased freshwater flows into Mobile Bay altering temperature, salinity, and total suspended sediments (TSS). Increased urban land uses coupled with decreased agricultural/pasture lands reduced TSS in the water column. However, increased urbanization or agricultural/pasture land coupled with decreased forest land resulted in higher TSS concentrations. Higher sediment loads were usually strongly correlated with higher TSS levels, except in areas where a large extent of wetlands retained sediment discharged during rainfall events. The modeling results indicated improved water clarity in the shallow aquatic regions of Mississippi Sound and degraded water clarity in the Wolf Bay estuary. This integrated modeling approach will provide new knowledge and tools for coastal resource managers to manage shallow aquatic habitats that provide critical ecosystem services.     

用光伏污泥焚烧灰渣制备轻集料

针对工业污泥焚烧灰渣处置难的现状,以光伏污泥焚烧灰渣为主要原料制备轻集料。确定轻集料烧制的最佳条件为,黏土投加量为70%,MgO投加量为5%,污泥焚烧灰渣投加量为25%,预热温度为450 ℃,预热时间为15 min,焙烧温度为1 050 ℃,焙烧时间分别为10 min,所制备出的轻集料的抗压强度为9.52 MPa,堆积密度为867 kg·m-3,烧失量为0.12%,1 h吸水率为1.94%。所制得的轻集料强度高,吸水率小,符合《轻集料及其实验方法.第二部分：轻集料实验方法》（GB/T 17431.2-2010）的要求,可为光伏污泥焚烧灰渣资源化提供理论指导。